Forester

At his best before the injury he had great feet, quick turn of speed and an eye for goal. Sadly much of that has gone. Also I think Gabby is a similar style of player but younger and, fingers crossed, not crocked. I am genuinely shocked at the fee paid as, given the gamble on fitness, I would have expected half of that fee. Good deal Les

If, and that is a big if, we keep VVD and Cedric then I think Pellegrino has a better deck of cards to play than poor Puel did. Specifically: - no European games means less rotation needed before Xmas - Chelsea, Liverpool and Everton facing European football which they didn't have last season. Chelsea probably not so relevant for us, the other two may be - Gabbi here from the start - only Davis and Long at an age where they may begin to decline - Stephens, Boufal, PEH all likely to improve second season For these reasons alone I would expect us to gain more points than last season without any real magic applied. Five to ten points perhaps? So I think we could improve our league position, particularly if we have better luck with injuries than last season in the case of VVD and Austin.

Possibly one of the most brainless posts of all time. You want him to spell out not only so he wants to sell, but also the amount? Have you ever negotiated anything in your life? Ever?

A very strange time in the UK to be downplaying Heath and Safety? Still, back to the football. Sounds like a very good appointment having read many of the articles. Let's get behind him and the club. One thing that did make me raise an eyebrow was this mention of long term project. Having moaned when the two previous managers left before the end of their contracts it's a bit rich to keep banging on about long term project when we have shown we are quite prepared to fire a manager after one season. So I think a more realistic ambition is to appoint a good manager, enjoy a couple of strong seasons and then be prepared when he leaves to find another one. Occasionally, like Puel, it won't work out but we need to buy in as fans to this approach and not moan like f!ck when a player or manager moves on. Will we as fans be capable of taking this lesson on board?

I have had a little read of your previous posts AR10. I don't think you are on very strong ground!

I did. And he was. Read my post that commented on a lack of knowledge of other candidates. So read into this interview what you wish...

What I know for certain is that Vierra has been interviewed and was at Staplewood monday. It may be that others on short list have made a similar visit, but I don't know that for sure...

Sean Dyche.....

Funnily enough I wouldn't have a problem with Poyet. Did a great job at Brighton, kept a very poor Sunderland team up and was harshly sacked

You realise he got Watford promoted, yes?

Sad for Puel, was a long term appointment and 8th and a cup final is far from a disaster despite some poor home performances. If it had to happen then it's good to get it done. However we are gambling and the downsides are significant. Life gets much worse than this as a Saints fan. Finally the club have shown, along with most others, that loyalty is a thing of the past so we should not bleat if a manager or player does well and wants to break their contract and leave early. It cuts both ways.....

As other have said, a very good opportunity to get lots of points on the board before November. We will be in big trouble if not top half at least by end of October. But let's be positive, could really set the tone for a great campaign if we go well. I always look to avoid the big squad clubs over Xmas who rotate with more success so am disappointed to see away trips to Spurs and Manure in such quick succession

No I disagree, given multiple opportunities and rarely taken them. In addition, assuming we want to bring in additional quality which is badly needed still to replace Vic, Pelle and Mane from a year ago, you have to move some people on. Otherwise you end up with a bloated squad which breeds discontented little cliques and unhelpful newspaper articles.....

I agree with you about not wanting him to go, albeit with the events of the last two weeks I think it is sadly inevitable. But he is supposed to be on £3 million per year. It's mad to fork out £6 million for two remaining years if someone else will take him on with only the difference to pay, if that. It's worth waiting a week or two for that. If it went on until July I would agree with you, but I cannot imagine it will

This comment is beyond stupid. While you go and get the money to pay him off from your own bank account, could you also use the travelling time to work out which other club had an offer on the table for Adkins to takeover on the day we sacked him? Keep us posted....

I for one am very happy for Puel to stay. It's looking less likely by the minute. Am I the only one doubting that, should we pull the trigger on Puel, we could attract a top manager while the question of a takeover still hangs over us? I guess if you had someone truly from the A list (Emery, Simeone etc) they may be fire proof. But the very good managers just below that level I think would be very cautious until ownership is clear, and consequently finances...

Good points here and I agree that,as a Puel supporter, we don't really know what goes on behind closed doors. I just hope we all realise that we face the choice in future of sacking someone we don't think is great or moaning that someone we think is will want to walk out on his contract. I would rather give the loyal manager time to build but this seems a thing of the past

This is very worrying, regardless of your view on Puel in or out. For my part I wouldn't have considered replacing Puel and would have instead backed him in the summer both in transfer window to plug the gaping holes behind Mane, Pelle and Wayama and also back him to learn and improve from first year. However the relentless speculation and deafening silence just leaves him draining of authority. It's a case of dead man walking. How do people expect him to continue if the club have a good look around and say "you carry on as we couldn't find anyone better"? How does that help retain the current squad, or attract players? I appreciate those who only see home games want more entertainment, as do I, although I enjoyed watching the vast majority of our away games. However most people on this forum went mad when Poch and Koeman walked out of their contracts early. When we hired Puel with a track record of staying at clubs several years we announced that we wanted a long term developmental model. It seems that we don't really, so no more criticism I guess on here when people (players and managers) walk early from their contracts so long as they gave entertainment while they were here. Loyalty cuts both ways.....

We have three season tickets and saw all but two away matches last season, including Europe. Like you no doubt, was frustrated with Prague, but not Milan where we payed them off the park. But thoroughly enjoyed watching our cup wins at Liverpool, Arsenal and the final itself. Enjoyed too our performances in the league at Arsenal (robbed!), Man City, Liverpool, Leicester, West Brom, Watford, Sunderland, Boro and West Ham. The difference is that you don't seem to want to engage with the following words in your summary....Mane, Pelle, Wanyama, VVD and Austin. Without them in any assessment it is, in my opinion, devalued

I for one would be delighted if he is staying. Ridiculous that it is even being questioned given 8th position and cup final. Yes we need to score more goals at home (but not necessarily away) and give those who only see home games more entertainment. But he needs backing in the transfer window too. And I am sure he would be a wiser manager for having had a season of learning in England. This concept of learn and improve is alien to the many on here for whom it's either hero or zero. I do however worry that we have heard nothing. I would have expected an end of season interview with Claude, and/or Les, and the absence of this makes me think Claude is not out trouble yet.

That would be a refreshingly sensible and balanced statement to make

Fancy a club sacking a manager after just one season. Thank heavens our fans don't think this way......

I think this is a good post, although I don't each the same conclusion. I think you being fair other than point 3 which ignores the recruitment model we have. Redmond was signed, for example, with no first team coach in place. I am glad he did sign by the any, but it proves the point. When I differ is the action. A part of the debate many seem to have missed is that it is perfectly possible to call out areas where more is needed, e.g. Style of play at home, but the route to securing that without losing the good things that you rightly identify may be discussing it in an end of season debrief, planning what needs to improve in the summer (recruitment and training) and back the manager to learn from that in season two. We seem to live in an age now where people love an immediate knee jerk reaction. A bit like Brexit and Trump, but don't get me started on that...!

This ain't rocket science chaps. You sell Pelle, Mane and Wanyama. Austin gets injured, then so does your best and tallest player. What do we expect? Any assessment of this season that excludes Pelle, Wanyama, Mane, VVD and Austin is, well, weird

So looks like we exceeded almost everyone's predictions finishing 8th. And a cup final reached without conceding a goal against all Premier League opponents. Looking forward to seeing everyone's predictions for next season now....